Yvette Nicole Brown Video Interview On ‘Community,’ ‘Percy Jackson,’ Dan Harmon [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Yvette Nicole Brown, best known for her role as Shirley Bennett on NBC’s Community, has recently stepped onto the big screen with a role as one of the Gray Sisters in the new film Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. Her biggest challenge in the fantasy-action film wasn’t any scene or dialogue, though — it was the makeup. “The makeup was seven hours of application and about two or three hours of removal and then right in the middle was seven or eight hours of work in the makeup,” Brown told Uinterview exclusively. “It was a lot of work, but very rewarding. When I saw the film and saw how grizzled and crazy we looked, and we even have eyes, it was so worth it. It was really, really worth it.”

Though Brown loves playing the role of Shirley on Community, which will begin airing its fifth season early next year, she says she’s not so similar to her character. “I do not judge the way Shirley does,” Brown told uInterview. “She’s been fun to play, though, because she’s learning. She’s learning how to be a better person, and I think that’s what life is about. I really have a soft spot in my heart for her.”

Q: What was the biggest challenge of playing a witch in Percy Jackson?

BROWN: The makeup – my goodness! The makeup was seven hours of application and about two or three hours of removal and then right in the middle was seven or eight hours of work in the makeup. So this was not for kids, we’re really doing this thing. It was a lot of work, but very rewarding. When I saw the film and saw how grizzled and crazy we looked, and we even have eyes, it was so worth it. It was really, really worth it. So that was the experience on the film. And of course, working with Logan Lerman and Alexandra [Daddario], and Brandon T. Jackson, and Douglas [Smith], it was a great group of kids to work with.

Q: Are you judgmental like your character Shirley on Community?

BROWN: I am not judgmental at all. The Bible says, ‘Judge not lest ye be judged.’ I don’t want anybody looking into my life and finding anything, so no, I do not judge the way Shirley does. She’s been fun to play, though, because she’s learning. She’s learning how to be a better person, and I think that’s what life is about. I really have a soft spot in my heart for her.

Q: What’s your favorite story idea for Community that has yet to be realized?

BROWN: I’ve been trying to get a romantic comedy made – for about four or five years I’ve really been begging them to do a romantic comedy. I think it’s the logistics of whose story is it, and how they do it, and get all the different types of characters in and all that, so that’s the biggest struggle, but that would be my dream.

Q: You are a voice on Hub Network’s Pound Puppies. What’s the key to being a good voiceover actor?

BROWN: I used to think that you had to be able to make a lot of different voices for voiceover, but I found that whatever your voice is, there’s a place for your voice, whatever it is. And so [my character] Cookie is my voice, just pitched down a little bit, you know, she’s down here when she talks – so it’s still me, it’s just a more guttural version of me. So you just bring whatever you are. The biggest struggle for me on Pound Puppies is that I realized I can’t use my face, it’s voice, so I had to learn how to sound authoritative without having the benefit of being able to raise an eyebrow or squint, or do something I normally do as an actor to convey how I’m feeling.

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